1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a pet accessory stuffed with herbs for naturally repelling fleas and ticks and, more particularly, to such an accessory which is in the form of a bone or bow tie which can be used either as a pillow in a pet bed, or worn on a pet collar.
2. Description of Related Art
Chemically-impregnated flea collars are, of course, well known among pet owners for repelling fleas, ticks and like pests. Although effective for their intended purpose, such chemically-impregnated collars have not proven to be altogether satisfactory in those cases where the animal's collar becomes wet, for example, when the animal is being bathed or caught in the rain, or where the flea collars are left on the pet for protracted time periods beyond those recommended by the manufacturer. Under such circumstances, it has been observed that traces of the chemicals impregnating the collars are absorbed into the skin of the pet, with possible risk to the health of the animal due to such chemical absorption. Pet owners are usually advised to remove wet flea collars, and to avoid keeping the flea collars on for protracted lengths of time. However, experience has shown that many owners neglect such advice, thereby leading to potential health risks for the animal.
Pet beds, stretchers and sleeping bags having powdered insecticide chemicals for repelling fleas are also known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,008,688; 4,050,417 and 4,169,428. Again, the use of such chemical insecticides, although effective for repelling pests, are not safe for the animal, particularly should the animal bite into the bed, stretcher, scratcher, sleeping bag or the like, and ingest or inhale chemical insecticides contained therein. The risk of inhalation of such air-borne insecticides extends as well to the pet owners themselves.
It is also known to provide bone-shaped or dumbbell-shaped hard toys with which pets play. Such toys can be impregnated with meat or garlic odors in order to attract the animal. It has been further proposed to provide pet pillows stuffed with resilientlycompressible stuffing. See,for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,185,547; 3,104,648 and 3,902,456.